Monster Bash
Williams, 1998I'm going to try my hand at doing a full restoration on this monster bash. As much as I want to rush through this to play this game, I want this to be my best effort, so I'm really going to take my time in an effort to do this right.
This is a reimport from Germany and looks like it has never been fully shopped/cleaned. It reeks of a smoky pub and someone has spray painted the corners and touched up a few areas.
The playgirl isn't terrible, but I want it perfect and will be doing a swap also.
Glue removal. I used goof off and a bondo spreader and it worked really well. Hopefully this doesn't causeem other issues down the line since it isn't a normal approach. Went way faster than the mineral spirits and razor blades appraoch.
Look at that pile of glue!
I started with a MB reimport from Sweden and gathered as many all new parts as I could, including a complete new Big Time cabinet and OEM playfield, and then took a week's vacation to carefully assemble my game. I have since changed it over to full LEDs (with OCD board) and added ColorDMD, Stern-style leg protectors, sillyoldelf side panels (best side panel art made for any game ever!), and some hand-painted monster figures. I hope your restoration turns out as spectacular as mine did.
The hardest part was getting the decals off. The material was pretty brittle and the point between where the heat gun was really effective and the decal melted was really slow.
That part took about 2.5 hours.
Once the cabinet was in the garage and I could put the goof off on it was maybe another 1.5 hours. It could definitely be done in a saturday.
Starting with the corners, and using vid's guide to cabinet restoration.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cabinet-restoration-vids-guide
I started by scoring the damaged corner with a razor, and adding a short wood screw raised a little bit for "tooth". (according to vid)
Here is the resin I used, made by bondo.
I didn't have any aluminum laying around so I used a cut up manilla folder and some wax paper. (I guess it's better than tape) I can definitely see where having a nice thin piece of waxed aluminum would be helpful.
Resin applied
After letting it cure overnight (it only needs a few hours really) and sanding down flat here is what I was left with. I'm very happy with the result.
Here is a corner that turned out really nice.
A few lessons I learned.
You need a lot less resin than you think.
A little hardner goes a long way.
Wear gloves (nitrile, latex, etc.) once it gets on your hands its terrible to get off.
I found that applying it with the tongue depresser was a lot more controlled and less messy than pouring directly out of the cup.
Wear a dust mask when sanding
Isn't sanding the decals off also an option? I could swear I recall a thread talking about how a Festool sander makes short work of that task.
I think it is, at least I've read on here of people doing it. I'll have to try it when I get to the decals on my attack from mars.. assuming this one goes well!
That Goof Off works great!!
Quoted from mrbillishere:Isn't sanding the decals off also an option?
It sure is. If you can't afford, or don't want to invest a thousand bucks in the Festool sander set-up, The Bosch 1250DEVS 6" Rotax sander works perfectly well. I did 2 restores with it and each cabinet + backbox took about an hour. That includes 80, 180 and 320 grit sanding
https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1250DEVS-6-Inch-Random-Sander/dp/B0001408SO
Quoted from Seatmandan:If you can't afford, or don't want to invest a thousand bucks in the Festool sander set-up, The Bosch 1250DEVS 6" Rotax sander works perfectly well. I did 2 restores with it and each cabinet + backbox took about an hour. That includes 80, 180 and 320 grit sanding
You have to be exaggerating - sanding a cab and backbox with a Bosch with 3 different grits of sandpaper does NOT take an hour. I did my first restoration with a Bosch sander (after taking off the decals with a heat gun), then got the Festool setup. It took me a half hour just to strip the cabinet decals properly with 80 grit using the Festool - and that's without doing all the painted surfaces. Call it an hour for the first sanding, then an hour to do the other two grits properly.
Unless you're doing cocaine beforehand, then all bets are off. 
thats correct- an hour for the total decal strip, but definitely not another hour for the other 2 grits. maybe about a half. My cabinets were in excellent condition- no gouges, chips, etc. just fade.
What Bosch sander did you use? Makes a HUGE difference. the 1250DEVS has an "agressive removal" mode that emulates the festool rotax action to a tee, and just eats the decals off amazingly. also- the bosch sanding pads are so good that I only needed 2 of them per machine (yes, cab and backbox) when removing the decal with the 80.
I understand that all the festool slappies have a hard time with this, but it's the truth, there IS a cheaper alternative!
Sorry, no drugs here!
Well, I probably didn't use that model (can't remember which one I used). Still find it hard to believe (and I'm not a "festool slappie"...I just think they make great tools).
You guys that toss around "festool" sander. Can someone link a specific product that you're referring to?
Quoted from Seatmandan:That Goof Off works great!!
It sure is. If you can't afford, or don't want to invest a thousand bucks in the Festool sander set-up, The Bosch 1250DEVS 6" Rotax sander works perfectly well. I did 2 restores with it and each cabinet + backbox took about an hour. That includes 80, 180 and 320 grit sanding
amazon.com link »
How do you like the vac hose attachment. It just hooks up to a shop vac right?
https://www.amazon.com/Festool-571810-RO-150-FEQ/dp/B004R18WP8/ref=sr_1_4
...but then you have to get the HEPA vacuum attachment:
https://www.amazon.com/Festool-583492-CT-26-Extractor/dp/B003XWAZ9S/ref=sr_1_1
And, of course, you'll want a detail palm sander or larger as well. Looking at 2k total, but I've found it's worth every penny. And that dust extractor works with all their stuff - automatically turns on when you start the tool and turns off when you stop. Really great if you're looking to build a nice wood shop (and have the jing to afford it!).
Quoted from MustangPaul:How do you like the vac hose attachment. It just hooks up to a shop vac right?
Works perfectly, Had to do a little research first to make sure I had the proper hook-up to both the tool and the shop-vac. I have a standard Craftsman shop-vac.
Here's the hose I bought-
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AV78B/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01
It requires this adapter to the 1250DEVS tool. To conect to the 1250DEVS, you trim it off in the center:
https://www.amazon.com/Fein-921072K13-Step-Adaptor/dp/B0186IMM2G/ref=sr_1_3
And to connect the Bosch hose to the shop-vac hose, I used one of the adapters in this kit. Some hoses are 2 1/2" and some are 2 1/4", depends on your shop-vac brand:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FX2R2LK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00
For some reason, the Fein step adapter is priced kind of high these days, I bought mine for 12 bucks.
Ok I have to back up Seatmandan - He pretty much texted me updates throughout the renovation process - especially on the sanding portion on the cabinets - so yeah It took about an hour maybe a few minutes more. Seatmandan took longer just to research the type of sander to use then actually using it. I have no horse in the sander race.. I'm not doing a restoration on my cabinet any time soon - so I have no idea what sander I would get or how long it would take me to do it...
Quoted from knockerlover:There is only one way to settle this.. a cabinet decal removal race!
I'm so friggin anal I would lose.
Quoted from knockerlover:There is only one way to settle this.. a cabinet decal removal race!
and I want it live streamed. it's a pinball restro nerd-off! 
someone needs a globe. michigan and new jersey are both EST
btw, parts of maine are an hour ahead of both states
Quoted from j_m_:someone needs a globe. michigan and new jersey are both EST
btw, parts of maine are an hour ahead of both states
Well, it SHOULD be an hour ahead! (So sue me...it's right next to the central time border...) 
Quoted from Seatmandan:Works perfectly, Had to do a little research first to make sure I had the proper hook-up to both the tool and the shop-vac. I have a standard Craftsman shop-vac.
Here's the hose I bought-
amazon.com link »
It requires this adapter to the 1250DEVS tool. To conect to the 1250DEVS, you trim it off in the center:
amazon.com link »
And to connect the Bosch hose to the shop-vac hose, I used one of the adapters in this kit. Some hoses are 2 1/2" and some are 2 1/4", depends on your shop-vac brand:
amazon.com link »
For some reason, the Fein step adapter is priced kind of high these days, I bought mine for 12 bucks.
Thanks for all that info.
Quoted from j_m_:and 12 is right next to 13, so it's guilty by association?
Who do you think gave 13 his bad reputation?
And now, back to Monster Bash! Looking great! 
Regarding the decals. I bought the Left and Right side decals for the lower cabinet from a pinsider. I've had Joe from pingraffix run me one off's of things in the past, and Gwaxt told me he had a printer connection. I figured this would be a good way to save a little bit of money. But after talking with Joey from Pinball Decals, he made a great point that artwork from two different printers will likely look different and to get a full set printed by the same printer.
So.. I guess in case I screw up really badly I have some extra decals.. or maybe someone only needs one side or something? Or.. I'll have a monster bash bartop.. who knows. Maybe I'll make a monster bash racecar!.. *sigh*
I ordered a full set of decals from Joey, so while we wait.. lets continue the planning of our sandoff streaming! (regardless of timezone.)
I started working on the coindoor using the treasure cove method.
http://www.treasure-cove.net/coindoor.htm
A few modifications to this method, I used "purple power" instead of westley's bleche wite. I also don't have an ace hardware nearby so I bought krylon paints. Truth be told, I'm not thrilled with the way the gloss turned out. It makes it look like the coin door was out in the rain. But, at least it's not worn looking anymore.
Purple Power
20160801_101118_(resized).jpg
Quoted from knockerlover:So.. I guess in case I screw up really badly I have some extra decals.. or maybe someone only needs one side or something? Or.. I'll have a monster bash bartop.. who knows. Maybe I'll make a monster bash racecar!.. *sigh*
Dude...you got this. Laying the decals will be a walk in the park.
Quoted from burningman:Dude...you got this. Laying the decals will be a walk in the park.
He's just worried about nothing... but seriously knockerlover, call me and I'll come over and help drink beer and watch you put them on and tell you you're doing it wrong if you need some help installing them!
Quoted from knockerlover:I started working on the coindoor using the treasure cove method.
http://www.treasure-cove.net/coindoor.htm
A few modifications to this method, I used "purple power" instead of westley's bleche wite. I also don't have an ace hardware nearby so I bought krylon paints. Truth be told, I'm not thrilled with the way the gloss turned out. It makes it look like the coin door was out in the rain. But, at least it's not worn looking anymore.
Purple PowerBefore
After
Did you wash it down with Acitone before you primed it? What did you prime it with?
Quoted from MustangPaul:Did you wash it down with Acitone before you primed it? What did you prime it with?
I followed the treasure cove instructions explicitly, no acetone, no priming. The paint spattering technique, at least from the can I was using the spatters came out a lot bigger than in their example.
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Algonquin, IL
